a quick trip to NOLA

I knew for months and months that in February I would be going to NOLA for a work conference. I was looking forward to learning some new info and hitting Bourbon Street with my coworkers for some drinks.

Instead, I spent my few days in one of my favorite cities fighting morning sickness and the exhaustion of a brand new pregnancy! But I survived. While I was there I was able to sneak away with one of my managers and walk the city and eat a few beignets!

Here are some of my favorite shots from my quick trip.

yummy things I didn’t get to buy:

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St Louis Cathedral:

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yummy things I DID get to buy (and inhale happily):

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A random chair in Cafe Du Monde (I just really like the shot):

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unfortunately, my return trip to NOLA in mid march was cancelled. I was SOOOO looking forward to spending the weekend with my best buddies acting like fools. Maybe in a few years when I think I can leave my baby for a weekend, I can go back.

-m

overnight road trip to watch Antwone Fisher

(* All photos in this blog were taken with a borrowed Canon 50D that I picked up as we were heading out-of-town. I have basically been talked into switching brands when/if I upgrade in a few months. Please know that I know that some of these pictures are out of focus and crap. I like the camera, I just don’t know how to use it, and need more than a couple of hours in the car to learn it!)

The (New) Boyfriend and I hit the road Thursday for a short road trip to Georgia Wine country.

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I did very little research into this trip. So, when the tiny town of Dahlonega, Ga rolled up their side walks at 6pm, I wasn’t really surprised!

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We checked in to The Historic Smith House Inn for the night and spent some time walking around the city square. It is full of cute gift shops, general stores and fudge places. However, due to the 6pm side-walk roll up ordinance, we had to wait til morning to visit those! We ate dinner then went back to the room to crash. At 7:30… yeah, so, we might be 80 years old. We spent the night watching Antiques Road Show and Antwone Fisher. I think my favorite quote from the weekend was “What did you do this weekend? We drove all the way to Georgia just to watch Antwone Fisher!” (Can I just say, I had not ever seen that move… It’s really good.)

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Friday morning we got up and roamed around the town. We visited the General Store and The Fudge Factory. We ruined our lunch with a breakfast of fudge, chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate covered cherries! Lunch was at a cute little place, The Crimson Moon Cafe.

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We did go to Frogtown Winery on our way home. This place was actually the whole reason I wanted to go to Dahlonega. We went. I was excited. I love frogs and wine. So… this place was going to be like heaven, right? Wrong. It WAS beautiful. The building was cozy and nice, the view outside on the porch was beautiful… but the people who worked there just weren’t really into us being there? No one said hello or made eye contact with us? It wasn’t all that busy, with only 8 people or so at the bar for wine tasting. We stood there for about 5-10 minutes. But after not even being acknowledged, we left. I was kind of sad. I was really hoping to come home with some wine from Frog Town. Oh well. Brian and I made the most of it anyway!

There might have also been an incident with a police officer and a burned out break light. (fortunately no one had any warrants and the break light got replaced a few minutes later.) There might have also been an hour and a half detour through the back roads of Georgia. But that was worth it because I was able to see a friend I haven’t seen in years.

All in all, it was a great trip. Nice to get away and do a whole bunch of nothing! “Fan-freaking-boring” is how I described it on NYE to a friend. I meant that in the best way possible. Though I was a few drinks in when she asked me!

Next planned trip to look forward to… New Orleans in March. It’s gonna be trouble!

-m

The weekend I gain ten pounds

I wrote a blog out on my iPhone with the wp app. After two crashes and 3 photo uploads the wp app deleted my draft of it. Bastard. 

Tori and I are visiting my aunt and uncle outside of Nashville. We do this every year. It’s a great weekend of eating and napping and shopping and eating. And eating.

We arrived to this spread of snacks. 

This morning, after sleeping late and missing breakfast, we had a spread for lunch. You would think my aunt was cooking for 14, not 4. My plate looked like this, till I ate it all. Oink oink. 

Linda also cooked the turkey neck in remembrance of mom. Mom LOVED the turkey neck. We all laughed about it and were pretty grossed out by it. Good memory! Gross turkey part!

I am waiting on tori to fix her hair and we are heading out to shop and burn some of these calories!

-m 

a kitty and some steaks (I mean cows)

Way back in November I took a mini road trip to Tennessee and Arkansas to visit friends and family. While spending a night with these awesome people, I had a chance to traipse through a few cow pastures and photograph farm animals. Basically cows and a barn kitty. Plus an awesome school bus. (I will be back on a nother day to show you the elusive school bus farm animal…ha!)

I was just browsing through my smugmug site and realized I had never shared these with you. Not that I think you care all that much, but I really liked the shots.

Meet Billy. We totally ate his son for dinner the night before…. He gave me some mean looks and acted like he was going to stampede me. I don’t really blame him.

I LOVED this barn kitty. I tried to get him to get in my pocket so I could take him home with me. He was quite content to sit there and let me take his picture though.

The next steak I will eat when I visit. Isn’t it cute! (Although now that I have put a face to the steak, I might have a hard time eating it)

I loved her horns! But stayed my distance. I think she would have defended the babies if I had gotten any closer.

Ok.
So that is my random cows and kitty post…
You are welcome!

-m

kid #3: Sarah Jean

So you have met Drew and Cody already. Last but not least is the youngest and prettiest of the 3!

Sarah is the baby. And with two older brothers she has had to learn to be tough. I wish I had been able to know her when she was little, like I did her brothers. I just wasn’t able to once I had a summer job. Even so, she and I still bond over girly stuff when I visit. Usually we slumber party in her room and yap about boys and music and school. (This year I was comatose before we could even talk!)

While I was shooting pictures of her brothers, she was inside “getting ready”. We waited, and waited and waited. It’s so funny the difference between boys and girls! The boys grabbed the first kind-of-maybe clean shirt off the floor and were out the door in 4.6 seconds. Sarah took a little more time! Most of it is because of her hair. I told you yesterday that they all have super curly hair. Sarah got a quadruple dose of the genetic material for the curly hair. She has the most amazing, super tight curls, and has spent years fighting with them! Unfortunately we had to finish up the pictures before her hair had a chance to dry… So we just have wet head pictures! Next time I will get a few of her beautiful, dry curly head!

this is definitely a “what are my brothers doing” look!

Beautiful!

Another great self portrait of us!

I am so happy I had the chance to capture all these great photos of these kids! They have been such a huge part of my heart and life for so long. I forget how much I love being around them. They make me grin ear to ear. Every year when I get to spend time with them, I beat my self up for not visiting more often! I hope I will have a house soon, and maybe they can come spend some time with “Aunt LeLe!”

-m

kid #2: Cody (aka Coco)

1 kid down, 2 to go… Up now, Cody. sometimes referred to as CoCo. (I am sure at 16 he loves being called that! though it might only be me that still calls him that. I am pretty sure he has been called Cody-bodie a few times!)

This kid has always had my heart (and secretly I miss him being little and cuddling up with me). The older he gets the cooler he gets. I bossed him around so I could get some shots of him and he was just as cool as a dang cucumber. I took several posed shots, but my favorites from the morning came when he was just chillin, waiting for his brother or sister. Some of these shots remind me of pictures of guys from the 70′s. I know it’s his awesomely curly hair, and his tall, lanky frame… but he just belongs on a vinyl cover!

His hair is soooo curly… there is a facebook picture out there of him with his hair straightened… it falls almost to his shoulders!

I mean, really, look at that! He’s a natural in front of the camera!

I think he’s too big to sit in my lap now! (though he has been known to do it anyway!)

Eek. I just love that kid! It drives me crazy to think he is old enough to drive!

-m

kid #1: The Drewster

I introduced you to this family last week…
I realized I had too many pictures I wanted to share, so I am breaking these post down by kid.

Starting with the oldest… Drew. Or Drewster for short!

Drew graduates from high school next spring, so his mom wanted some shots of him for his senior page in the year book. Drew drives his grandfathers old truck, and I was able to get a couple of fabulous ones with it!

 

I am so thankful I was able to embarrass him into smiling! I got some really great shots, and his mom will have something to use in the yearbook!

-m

mini photo shoot with some grown up kids

While I was in Arkansas for the weekend, Angela wanted me to get some shots of her kids. Particularly Drew, for his senior page in the year book.

I have known these kids since they were in the womb. Just like their mom has known me since I was in the womb! Angela and my mom were best of friends growing up, and I don’t remember a time that Angela wasn’t in my life. She used to take me swimming at the country club and paddle boating at Village Creek.

Angela had her first kiddo when I was 13. I will never forget carrying Drew through Wal-mart and someone asking me what I had named my baby! I was mortified at the thought of being 13 and having a baby!

Since I spent 6 weeks a summer with my mom, I was able to hang out with these kids for days and days on end.
I wish I had some of my other pictures of them, but this is one of the only ones I have scanned in right now from back in the day. But it is a perfect reminder of the fun we had.

When Drew (far right) was little I spent an entire summer watching ET over and over (and over and over and over. youhavenoideahowmanytimeswewatchedthatmovie!) Drew LOVED it. There were days we watched it 3-4 times. I remember him being a sweet, quiet kid. Now he is a sweet, very quiet grown man of 18. I think he forgets that I have known him his whole life and used to tickle him and play with him and watch ET over and over! I have to steal hugs from him, and I think he said a whole 3 words to me the entire time I was visiting!

When Cody (far left) came along, he spent the 1st year of his life screaming his fool head off. He is the sweetest, most loving kid though! I used to love his silver capped front teeth and his precious laugh. Cody spent every visit in my lap telling me how much he loved me and how he was going to marry me one day. Now he is 16, and wanting to attend med school. I told him I might wait on him to make the big bucks, then he can marry me and take care of me! (though that would be so super weird since I have changed his diapers…)

Sarah (middle) was born in the spring and I was in high-school with a full time job during the summer. I wasn’t able to spend 6 weeks a summer with her, or attend her birthday parties, like I was her brothers. So she and I didn’t bond as much, but I still loved her precious little face, and those beautiful curls. Now when I go visit, we camp out in her room and chit chat into the night (though this year I conked out before we could chit chat!). At 13, she seems older and more mature then I was at that age. I think that comes with having older brothers!

I am now realizing that this post is going to be longer then I wanted… so… I am gonna show you a pic or two of them together then do individual post for each kiddo. I got such great shots of them that I want to share!

brotherly love (the kind where they refuse to get close to each other so I can take a picture!)

Me and the two that like me! (Angela snapped this one.)

The fam…

Even Zoie got some camera time!

I will be back with a kid a day in the near future. I am proud of some of the shots I was able to get of Drew. I honestly don’t know how I got him to smile in so many pictures. Cody’s pictures just scream “cool”. I didn’t get as many of Sarah, because while I was taking pics of her brothers she was “getting ready”! And with any woman (especially a 13 year old) that can take a while!

I can’t believe those kids are strolling right on into adulthood. I now know how Angela feels every year I get older! The older they get the older that makes me!
-m

Thursday night in Memphis and the Flying Saucer

My trip began with a stop in Memphis, Tn to see my friend Joey.

Joey and I became friends via telephone! He was (and is) one of my vendor reps through work. After a while you get to know the people you talk to every day. I am so glad we became the best of friends! During my visit Thursday night, I finally met his precious dog, Colby, and his sweet, sweet parents. Colby and I became fast friends also. I had no choice. When a 100 lb dog wants to sit in your lap, or sleep in the bed with you, you kinda have to let him!

Joey and I grabbed dinner and then headed to Flying Saucer for a few beers. Joey has been telling me about this place for a while now. And they aren’t kidding with their menu!

They also have a beer club… if you have this:

and drink enough of these:

you can get one of these on the ceiling:

(fortunately you don’t have to do it all in one night!)

All in all it was a pretty fun night. I had a blue berry beer that was pretty good. Then I had a beer that was supposed to be good, but was the bottom of the keg and tasted like vomit. Finally, I gave up and went with what I knew and drank a Blue Moon. Yes, I had a headache the next day. (I had started with margaritas at dinner!)

I am pretty disappointed in my self though because I didn’t get one decent pic of Joey and me!
Just our drinks and coasters!

-m

home sweet (I has such a great 4 day weekend) home

I have so many pictures to show and stories to tell from my 4 day weekend trip to see family and friends in Tennessee and Arkansas!

Thursday night was fun times with my friend Joey.
Friday/Saturday was the most day/night I have had in the longest time. Family, camp fires, and four-wheelers make for an amazing night.
Saturday/Sunday was catching up with “family” and kids that somehow have become full-grown big people!

I have so many happy, warm fuzzies in my heart and soul from those four days. I have quite a few tears, and “man, I miss my mom” moments too. I will most likely be back here spilling my guts about all of it this week.

But for now I will give you a tiny preview of what it takes to get a decent picture of me and a very unwilling 18-year-old! (and his brother and sister!) I remember when they were all little and had no problem cuddling up to me for a pic!

I caught him off guard and was able to get a death grip on him!
It worked for a split second! Enough for their mom to snap this!

oh that picture makes my heart happy!

-m